VARIOUS: Academics claim Former Russian spy planned to blackmail Russian Oligarch as British and Russian investigators meet; Hamburg police secured the apartment of a supposed business partner of Andrei Lugovoy

Two PhD students who interviewed Alexander Litvinenko as part of their research claimed on Friday (December 8) the poisoned Russian former spy planned to blackmail a powerful Russian oligarch. Westminster PhD student Julia Svetlichnaja who interviewed Litvinenko a number of times said the former Russian agent claimed he had files on a number of people that he planned to blackmail. "One of the names was a famous Russian oligarch, which he accused of corruption and, and to be very close to the Kremlin. And those materials that Litvinenko claimed he had, he was going to, as he said "I am officially going to deal with this" so he was obviously going to present those sensitive information to this person in order to get a substantial amount of money," Svetlichnaja claimed. Svetlichnaja, who is Russian, told a news conference in London that Litvinenko made the claims to her during an interview which he would not allow her to record. She claims Litvinenko at times would allow her to record their interviews. A naturalised British citizen who was a critic of the Kremlin, Litvinenko died in a London hospital on November 23 from poisoning with radioactive polonium 210. In a statement released after his death, Litvinenko accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of killing him. The Kremlin has denied involvement in a case that has spawned conspiracy theories and revived memories of Cold War spying and revenge. Fellow Westminster PhD student James Heartfield who also interviewed Litvinenko as part of his research, said the former Russian spy also told him corruption stories and blackmail schemes. "As it were his status and standing was the only reputation he had, it was "I can give you the inside information" and he was looking to capitalise on that," Heartfield said. Svetlichnaja said she questioned the motives of the former FSB (formerly the KGB) agent. "He was trying to portray FSB, slagging, slagging the FSB, at the same time using his FSB channels to promote for his own causes and himself. So he was very much part of FSB still because his attitude towards democracy was "I've got a file, I've got a file about you and I'm going to use it" and whether it makes him a dissident or whether it makes him a blackmailer it is up to you to decide," Svetlichnaja said. Meanwhile British detectives in Moscow met Russian prosecutors on Friday as part of their investigation into the Litvinenko murder. Russian prosecutors on Thursday (December 7) launched their own murder investigation into Litvinenko's death from radiation poisoning. The Russian murder investigation would assist the British inquiry, a prosecution source said. Russian investigators might fly to London to make inquiries, the source said. Prosecutors also opened a criminal case into what they said was the attempted murder of Dmitry Kovtun, a Russian businessman who met Litvinenko at the time he fell ill and who has developed symptoms of radiation poisoning. A lawyer, however, denied media reports that Kovtun was in critical condition and said his health was satisfactory. Both British and Russian investigators have begun questioning Andrei Lugovoy, a key witness in the Litvinenko case, local media reported. A spokeswoman for the prosecutor-general's office said she could not immediately confirm the report. Lugovoy, A Russian businessman, met Litvinenko in a London hotel on November 1, the day the former spy and Kremlin critic fell ill. Lugovoy is himself undergoing tests for radioactive contamination in a Moscow hospital. Also on Friday, Hamburg police secured the apartment of Dmitry Kovtun a supposed business partner of Lugovoy. Kovtun is also in hospital and Mario Scaramella, an Italian contact of Litvinenko, has undergone treatment in London for the effects of contamination. Hamburg police said in a press statement, they where not ruling out the possibility that Kovtun also had contact with Pollonium 210. They searched Kovtun´s flat and for traces of Polonium 210 and would announce the results as soon as experts of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) where ready.

ITN Source | December 9, 2006

Tags:. .putin. .revenge. .democracy. .alexander. .poisoned